Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Lewis Merriman Buttery of Lampasas, Texas, who passed away on 20 December 2008. Lewis Buttery was born on 20 March 1924 in San Angelo, Texas, to Albert James and Dorothy Hoss Buttery. On his 18th birthday, just 3 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he attempted to enlist in the United States Navy. He had hoped to join his older brothers in service--one, an Army artillery officer, and the other, a naval aviator. Unfortunately, Lewis was denied enlistment at that time due to health issues. This denial only strengthened his resolve to serve his country. Each month he attempted to enlist until he was finally accepted and sworn in on 20 October 1942. Lewis was called to Active Duty in June of 1943 and was sent to the University of Texas to continue pursuit of his engineering degree. He was later sent to Midshipmen School at Columbia University in New York. In March 1944, Lewis was commissioned as an ensign and ordered to San Francisco to complete gunnery school. He was ultimately assigned to USS Patrol Craft Escort 880 in Adak, Alaska, as a gunnery officer. In preparation for the invasion of Japan, his ship was converted into a weather ship, and he became the aerological, or weather, officer. The ship was transferred to the Marshall-Gilbert Islands area to transmit weather observations and to guide Army Air Corps bombers which were preparing the way for the invasion of Japan.…”